The Blow is the moniker of Portland, Oregon-based Khaela Yvonne Maricich. "True Affection," is one of my favorite songs by The Blow from her album Paper Television (2006). This album is Maricich's first collaboration with Jona Bechtolt, aka. YACHT, another Oregon-based musician. Jona Bechtolt is an electronic musician along the lines of Discovery. The Blow typically create songs with thin elect...
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Featured Artist: The Blow
Fat Freddy's Drop and Life Goals
As of last night I've completed one more life goal. I started a "slow clap." Yes, sir--I had my moment of glory at Fat Freddy's Drop's sold-out performance at The Independent. Between songs, as the rhythm built I was dancing in a musical trance of excitement. Something strange happened. During my two step move, which is worst than Fat Joe's "Lean Back," I started clapping. As I continued clappi...
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Live Review of Daedelus, James Pants and Free The Robots
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Before Daedelus’ performance Friday night, I’d never really understood “underground” when describing a show. I’ve listened to underground music. I had been a fan of Daedelus’ Exquisite Corpses, and recently, became a fan of Free the Robots. I never before had to search for a music venue down a dark dead end alley, which was marked by a couple of beef cakes in black suits. Quizzically,
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MGMT Cover Talking Heads' "This Must Be The Place"
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Track:This Must Be the Place
Back before MGMT ever had MGMT they were just some college hipsters at Wesleyan. This was before hipsters became a negative term, before "Kids" was a classic indie song, and before the "change" of Obama. While this cover is not nearly as good as the original, one can tell that these kids had potential. "This Must Be The Place," is by far one of my favorite Talking Heads song. During a summer be...
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Scion Minneapolis: Le Castle Vania 11/19
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Artist:Scion Minneapolis
Scion Minneapolis will be putting on a free show at 7th St. Entry featuring Le Castle Vania, AC Slater, and more, on Nov. 19th. If you're interested in attending, all you need to do is RSVP HERE. The show is 18+ for all you kiddies who are interested and have curfews. I thought I'd mention this, after my recent post discussing commercial endorsements in hip hop, and in music, which you can READ...
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Blakroc: Web Episode #9
Sure I'm looking forward to turkey and stuffing (mmmh), but I can't stop thinking about Blakroc, as Black Thursday nears! I've said this so many time it's become a repeated line, but honestly--I thought after the last web episode I was done hyping this CD, until this web episode of Pharoah Monch. Pharoah Monch is one of the few hip hop emcees to master word play. "Word play?" you ask, reference...
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Interview with Lenka: "Pop" Feels Right
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All Photos by Victoria SmithMy first impression of Lenka, the internationally growing pop star, was she was stuffy. She sat across from me, her posture stiff as her knees were pushed together, while her hands remained crossed resting on her thighs. She introduced herself formally, and was rather laconic. Later when we spoke over the phone, and I’ll admit, I was entirely wrong. This time she was.
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Diggin' in the Crates: Gal Costas' "Sao Salvador"
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Album:Sao Salvador
By Noam OfirA few weeks ago while I was walking down the streets of Tel Aviv with a friend, returning empty handed from a record store I frequent, when I noticed this record store I'd never been to. As I began digging through the untouched collection, I found a bunch of dope Brazilian records in good condition (for only $2-3 each!!). I guess there isn't much of a demand here, because this was a...
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Kid Sister's "Right Hand Hi" (Official Video)
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Kid Sister just released her video for her single, "Right Hand Hi." If you're not familiar with the Chi-town emcee, get familiar. After building a buzz with her video "Pro-Nails," featuring Kanye West, her fans anxiously awaited her debut album which was continually pushed back. The wait ends this Wednesday (Nov. 17th) with the release of Ultraviolet. Earlier in the month, SFCritic interviewed ...
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Live Review of Emily Wells at Cafe Du Nord
All Photos By Victoria SmithFor those unfamiliar with Emily Wells (listen to her hear), she is a classically trained violinist whose passion for classical music is equaled with her passion for hip hop. Her songs are built upon layers of loops of kids' toy instruments (tiny pianos, and small xylophones), a violin, vocal effects, a bass, and drums. During her live set she is typically accompanied...
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Grizzly Bear "Ready, Able"
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Grizzly Bear's "Ready, Able," music video was just released within the week. Thanks to You're Ex-Lover Is Dead (which mind you is a rad music blog name in comparison to SFCritic), I was put onto this spectacular video. From the album, Veckatimest, "Ready, Able" is just one of the many amazing tracks from this album which will be on one of my top albums of the year list. The video is a sparkling...
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How to Become a Music Blogger
To be a music blogger don't you just post music on your blog? Yes. So that's it? No. Am I an expert? Are you kidding me? Gorilla vs. Bear or Brooklyn Vegan, are more "experts." What I know is from my short experience, and from my communication with other bloggers. This post is intended to be a forum, not a lecture, so I encourage you to give feedback.Building an AudienceWhen I started this blog...
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Sytanks' New Video "Twentytwohundred"
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Artist:Sytanks
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Album:Ylajali
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Track:Twentytwohundred
This is Syntaks' new video, "Twentytwohundred," from their album Ylajali. The Danish duo, signed to Ghostly International, have created a video which parallels visuals with audios in a dreamlike sequence that is meditative. After receiving this video in my inbox, it felt perfect to show as a follow up to my latest post featuring the label Ghostly International. In a past post called, "Ideas in ...
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Featured Label: Ghostly International
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Track:Two Dots
Ghostly International is a label that prides itself on the juxtaposition of music and art branding. Created by Sam Valenti IV when he was 19 yrs old, the label was realized through Valenti's experience as a DJ, interest in live performances, and art history background. With the incorporation of art, and expression, the label encouraged exploration. In the beginning, Tadd Mullinix, best known as...
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Interview with Fat Freddy's Drop: Coming to America
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It’s not cheap to fly, and it’s definitely not cheap to fly out a whole seven piece band from New Zealand. This should say something about the promoter’s faith in Fat Freddy’s Drop, the Kiwi jazz, dub, reggae, and soul band that is making its first tour to the US. Though the group formed in the early 90s, they’ve just released their second album, Dr. Boondigga and The Big BW. While many
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Ground Sound at Triple Crown 9/6
For all those Bay Area folks, check out my man Mickey Darius on the 1s and 2s. He'll be spinning dusted hip hop gems, and funk blends. Seriously, the man has got taste in music that SFCritic will embrace. Not to mention, Triple Crown provides free beer for like 30mins, and then it's $2 pints. Want to stretch your legs, chug some beer, and get down--hit up Ground Sound tonight.Read more at www.S...
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A&R: The Music Submissions
Bowerbirds - Upper AirThere are many, many things to love about folk music, one of which is that it is relatively timeless. Yes, it fell out of favor with the "hip youth" for a while there (at least for the most part). But luckily there have been dozens of excellent releases in the past few years that have revived the genre and made it possible for bands like Bowerbirds to find mainstream su...
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Sea Wolf's Video "Wicked Bood"
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Track:Wicked Bood
Sea Wolf's new video for "Wicked Blood" has just premiered. If you remember, when SFCritic reviewed Sea Wolf's show at Bimbos, this song stood out amongst the others from his new album. With black and white filming, the video retains Sea Wolf's artsy, poetic style. Featuring mummies, zombies, and an astronaut werewolf this video was perfect for the Halloween scare, though it's not really all ...
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Annie's New Album "Don't Stop"
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In support of her new album, Don't Stop, Annie will be DJing in select cities (including San Francisco on Nov. 12th). After three years in the making, Don't Stop is set to be released on Nov. 17th. The album finds her collaborating with Timo Kaukolampi and Richard X - both appeared on her first album, Anniemal – and introduces a host of new friends like Paul Epworth (known for his work with Blo.
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Debating the Boycott of Buju Banton
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Last week, SFCritic made a post concerning the continuing debate between dancehall performer, Buju Banton and the LGTBQ community that is protesting his music. The debate concerns the LGBTQ's proposed boycott of Buju Banton's performances in the US as a result of a statements, and particularly a song Banton made in the past, which has lyrics describing how to kill gay people.After posting this ...
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